Facets
' |image= |series= |production=40513-471 |producer(s)= |story= |script= René Echevarria |director=Cliff Bole |imdbref=tt0708536 |guests=Max Grodénchik as Rom, Aron Eisenberg as Nog, Chase Masterson as Leeta and Jefrey Alan Chandler as Guardian |previous_production=Shakaar |next_production=The Adversary |episode=DS9 S03E025 |airdate=12 June 1995 |previous_release=Shakaar |next_release=The Adversary |story_date(s)=48959 (2371) |previous_story=Shakaar |next_story=The Adversary }} Summary Jadzia Dax prepares for her zhian'tara, the Trill Rite of Closure. During the ritual, Jadzia will meet Dax's previous hosts, which will be accomplished by transferring the memories of each into someone's body. Sisko, Kira, Bashir, Odo, Quark, O'Brien, and Leeta agree to participate, and a Guardian performs the ceremony. Kira undergoes the transference first, becoming Lela, Dax's initial host. The Guardian leaves Jadzia alone with Lela, who exhibits several traits Dax has inherited. So do subsequent hosts O'Brien/Tobin and Leeta/Emony. Quark experiences some discomfort hosting a female entity, Audrid, while Bashir/Torias regrets that an accident ended his life too soon. Jadzia then prepares for her most difficult meeting — with Joran, who once committed murder. Sisko has volunteered to host his memories, and the transference is conducted inside a holding cell. Sisko/Joran berates Jadzia, telling her she is not worthy of the Dax symbiont, then tricks her into lowering the forcefield and attempts to choke her. But Jadzia overpowers him with a few Klingon-style blows, bringing Sisko back. Later, she admits to Sisko that she may have put off her zhian'tara because she is afraid of not measuring up to the other hosts. Jadzia is still haunted by the time Curzon forced her out of the Initiate program. Did he feel she just wasn't good enough? Odo has volunteered to host Curzon, and when the transfer occurs, he literally morphs into a combination of himself and the old man. Odo/Curzon is thrilled to see Sisko. When Jadzia joins them in Quark's, Sisko leaves, knowing she needs to speak with Odo/Curzon about her feelings of insecurity. But he says nothing to make her feel better, only that he felt sorry for her. Jadzia replies that when Curzon's memories are restored to her, she fears that without his respect, she won't respect herself. Odo/Curzon happily answers that she won't have that problem — Curzon and Odo love being joined, and have agreed that Curzon should stay in Odo's body permanently. With Jadzia in danger of losing a part of herself, Sisko offers to talk to Odo/Curzon. Instead, she works up the courage to face him herself and demands that her memories be returned. Odo/Curzon initially refuses. But Jadzia stands up for herself, and uncovers the surprising fact that Curzon forced her out of the program because he was in love with her. She tells Curzon that she loves him too, and that they can be joined forever through Dax if he returns to her body. This convinces Odo and Curzon to separate, and Curzon's memories return to Jadzia, finally giving her the self-confidence she needs. Errors and Explanations Plot Oversights # I wonder why Verad didn't get to participate in the zhian'taraz. True, he stole Dax and almost cost Jadzia her life. It's also true that he had the symbiont for a short time only, but he was a host, was he not? (See Invasive Procedures.) He wasn’t an official host. # As mentioned in the review for Q-Less, Dax engages in behavior during this episode that I find somewhat shocking. According to Ménage à Troi (TNG), Ferengi males consider their ears one of their most erogenous zones. That episode also reveals that stroking a Ferengi's cartilage-—giving oo-mox—amounts to sexual foreplay. Yet when Quark won't agree to be a part of the zhian'tara, Dax—in what seems like a radical character departure—grabs Quark's ears and pleasure-numbs him into submission. Now, I realize that Quark is a Ferengi and we're just supposed to think that anybody can do anything to him because he's a Ferengi and he probably deserves it. But it still boggles my mind that a sophisticated, intelligent woman like Dax would stoop to this depth just to get a favor. ' Jadzia is clever enough to trick Quark without him realising it!' # Does Joran seem a bit more wacko since the last time we saw him? At the end of Equilibrium he came up to Jadzia and placed his head on her chest. In this episode he tries to strangle her! ' The Joran seen in Equilibrium may not have completely free of the memory block.' Nit Central # BrianB on Wednesday, April 14, 1999 - 2:34 am: This episode should've been titled "Faces", but Voyager got that one first. The title they used is more appropriate, as Jadzia is using the ritual to interact with her symbiont’s previous hosts, with each representing a facet of their joint personality. # ScottN on Friday, April 23, 1999 - 10:09 am: This episode establishes that Odo's clothes are part of him. When Odo/Curzon decides he doesn't like his outfit, he steps back from Jadzia and Sisko, and waves his arms. When he's done, his clothes are different. Keith Alan Morgan on Saturday, May 08, 1999 - 8:28 am: ScottN: So Odo's walking around stark naked? Why haven't the censors done anything about this? Seniram He doesn’t appear to be naked – that’s why! # So just anyone can walk into a holosuite program while it's running? I'll bet Nog was glad that he was not running the Pleasure Goddess of Rixx program when Jake came in. (Of course, maybe that's why Jake did come in? He is a teenage boy after all.) It would depend on the instructions given to the computer at the start of the program. # Okay let me get this straight, for a Starfleet test they decide to have the wannabe cadet try to work the controls of a Cardassian station? Talk about your stress tests. What's next, testing the applicants to see how they would react to being assimilated by the Borg? ("Well, he's not Starfleet material, but he would make one hell of a drone!") They want to evaluate the cadet’s ability to cope under stress. # If the Symbiosis Commission has been wanting Jadzia to do the zhian'tara for some time, then why didn't they have her do it after the events of Equilibrium? She needed time to get used to having the memories of an unstable host. # In all the other transfers the trill host immediately takes control of the volunteers, but when Joran's memories are transferred to Sisko, it seems to take a minute or two for Joran to take over. (Thereby giving Jadzia and the guardian time to leisurely stroll out of the holding cell.) Why didn't Sisko stand in the cell, Jadzia outside the cell and then when the guardian steps back they can activate the force field? Sisko was able to use the control that the volunteers have – which Quark demonstrated during his session - to supress Joran until the force field was in place. # Chris Thomas on Wednesday, February 02, 2000 - 7:14 am: How can Curzon-Odo drink in this episode? OK, Curzon might be part of Odo but it's mentioned the joined Odo is still a shapeshifter. In other episodes Odo can't drink, so why here? Mylan on Tuesday, September 10, 2002 - 11:28 pm: It seems to me that Odo could replicate functioning organs, but doesn't because he has no idea how. He's never experienced taste, so how could he make a working tongue? Curzon, however, knows all too well the sensation of drinking. He also knows how to use Odo's shapeshifting. Thus, as Curzon-Odo, I think it would be well within his ability to make a fully functional tongue. As for the drink itself, he could just make a hollow cavity and expel it later. Now as for actually getting drunk... that would be a little trickier. # If Curzon performed the zhian'tara, wouldn't he have come across Joran before and therefore wouldn't that be part of Jadzia's memories? David on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 10:23 pm: The memory-suppression mechanism must have been stronger when he did his zhian'tara, and any minor hallucinations he might have had could easily have been chalked up to his flamboyant lifestyle and the inevitable hangovers thereof. ''' # If Curzon loved Jadzia when she applied, it's surprising he never confided in Sisko about it back then. ''David on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 10:23 pm:'' I suspect that the symbiont has some degree of selective control over what it lets the host know about. And Curzon, for one, would have strongly not wanted Jadzia to know about his love for her.' # ''John A. Lang on Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 3:16 pm: TOS SALUTE: Quark serves Tranya...from The Corbomite Maneuver. I guess Dave Bailey came back from Balok's ship & brought the recipe with him. Either that or the Federation signed a trade agreement with Balok’s people. # Kinggodzillak on Wednesday, March 02, 2005 - 5:58 pm: Why wasn't Verad Dax part of the Zhian Tara thingy? He wasn't even mentioned, was he? Was it that he just wasn't around too long, or was it that they couldn't be bothered to ask someone like Rom or Eddington to take him? ''LUIGI NOVI on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 12:11 pm:''I would imagine that he didn't have the symbiont long enough for his consciousness to imprint itself on it. Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine